08 October, 2007

Paneer Koftas in Creamy Saffron Gravy

Paneer Koftas in Creamy Saffron Gravy

"When the trees their summer splendourChange to raiment red and gold,When the summer moon turns mellow,And the nights are getting cold;When the squirrels hide their acorns,And the woodchucks disappear;Then we know that it is autumn,Loveliest season of the year."- Charlotte L. Riser

It’s fall now as I write this. While walking back to home I noticed the change around me. There is nip in the air, colourful leaves are floating around, the dusk is rapidly approaching on the once bright and blue sky, birds are chirping the last of summer’s song… Summer has come to an end… A wave of nostalgia hit me as I carefully folded my summer dresses and strappy sandals and removed my tall boots and long coat from cupboard. I am going to miss bright sunny spells on my face, lazy weekend afternoon’s BBQ with friends, wearing flowing summer dresses, biting greedily the big crescent of watermelon, licking the ice cream melting down my arm… But the changing colours of leaves thrills me thinking of celebrating Diwali and Christmas with friends and family, smell of apple and pumpkin pie baking in oven, sipping a hot bowl of soup, curling with loved one sitting close to fireplace… Autumn is the season of transition, a season where change is brought before all our senses. How beautifully the leaves grow old!!! Its pleasure to watch fruit trees lavishing their hues on fruits when other trees lavish upon their trees makes me merry. I feel like a Queen when I tread upon carpets of gold and crimson, of brown and bronze leaves, woven by the winds and rains while we slept… I welcome autumn the way I feel, with Paneer Kofta in Creamy Saffron Sauce. Royal and bursting with autumn colour… A dish fit for royalties…

The word kofta is derived from Persian kūfta. In Persian, کوفتن (Kuftan) means "to beat" or "to grind" or meatball. (Source: Wiki) In vegetarian versions of koftas different vegetables like Potato, Cabbage, Beetroots, Spinach, Paneer etc are minced and mixed with different spices. These spicy vegetable balls are then deep fried or grilled or baked and then served with rich creamy, spicy and aromatic gravy.

Unlike vegetables koftas, panner koftas have creamy texture. Grated paneer is added with vegetables of our choice and spices and then deep fried. When deep fried or baked, they are golden and crisp and have rich melt-in-mouth taste. These Koftas are then served with creamy gravy of onion and tomatoes and a pinch of saffron to give it a rich look and flavor. I used fresh homemade Paneer to make this koftes and don’t hesitate to use store bought Paneer if you don’t have homemade ones in hand. This is my contribution to lovely Sunita's Think Spice: Think Saffron event. I am also sending these koftas to Margot of Coffee & Vanilla who is hosting Vegetarian Awareness Month.

Method:For Gravy:Make a plus mark on tomatoes and blanch them in boiling water for about 3 minutes and peel their skin.Grind these tomatoes with cashews, jeera powder, coriander powder, garam masala, kitchen king masala, chilli powder and turmeric powder to smooth paste without adding any water.Heat oil in a pan and add cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom and bay leaf and sauté it for a minutes on medium flame till you get nice aroma.Add jeera and when it starts to sizzle add finely chopped onion, kasuri methi, garlic and ginger. Sauté them till onion turns golden brown.To this add tomato paste, ½ cup of water and salt to taste and cook for 5-7 minutes.Now mix saffron soaked in warm milk and fresh cream and cook for further 10-15 minutes over a low flame.Switch off the flame and mix in finely chopped coriander leaves and keep it aside.

Paneer Koftas in Creamy Saffron Gravy

For Koftas:Take finely chopped carrot, beans and green peas in a microwave safe bowl and cook for 3 minutes or steam cook them for 5 minutes.Add them with finely mashed potatoes and grated paneer.Add chopped cashews, garam masala, kitchen king masala, salt to taste and corn flour and mix them well using your hands. The consistency should be as that of chapatti dough to prevent it from breaking while deep frying.Make small lemon sized balls and deep fry them in batches in hot oil at slow-medium flame till they turn golden brown and crisp from outside. Alternatively you can also bake them in oven at 175 degrees for about 20-30 minutes till they turn golden brown.Transfer the fried koftas on paper towel.Just before serving arrange the koftas in gravy garnished with finely chopped coriander leaves.

Paneer Koftas in Creamy Saffron Gravy

Tips:When you deep fry the koftas, first make sure that the oil is hot enough before you place them for deep frying.Place one kofta at a time in a pan when deep frying. If the Kofta starts to break or crumble add about 1-2 tbsp of cornflour and mix well as corn flour helps the paneer and vegetables to bind well and they will not break when you deep fry them.Always fry the koftas in low-medium flame so that they are cooked well and get lovely golden brown colour.

Someone in a poetic mood :) Koftas look so nice and pretty...your dishes always have that richness.I have never attempted to make Koftas coz of all that work...but I would love to have it when made by someone..so wehn are you inviting me? :)

what a tempting curry.......you are spoiling all my dieting plans..........and a beautifull description of the fall......in uki am enjoying the change of climatewhere do u live in uk....we live in yorkshirebye

Wow they just look super delicious.I am going to try your recipe when i have paneer. Once a made vegie kofta and when i fried them, they just crumbles to small pieces.Your kofa look beautifull, so i will try your recipe.Thanks for sharing it.

@tbc,thanks tbc:) i am not sure abt my writing skills, i just write what comes to my mind. and yeah, both my granny's are gr8 story tellers. may be just inherited small percentage of story teller genes from them;) he he...

@sig,that yello hue is due to counter top lights sig. i usually take pics at night and i dont get natural light:(i have not tested on vista as i just hate it;) i usually use firefox and i prefer it over IE. will check on weekend and see if i can fix the prob. thanks for letting me know sig. i appreciate it.

@bhags,LOL... that so sweet of u:) thanks bhags.

@nags,thanks nags. i am still working on fixing few probs with the new template. glad u liked it:)

@apple,welcome to my corner:) i will surely pop into ur blog to check ur entry:)

@ashakka,i cant wait for ur wednesday's post. its on main dishes rt??? thanks ashakka, glad u liked it:) try the gravy, it was wonderful... and also koftas. i am sure both ur kids will like to eat them with tomato sauce if not with gravy;)

@padma,thank u:) a touch of saffron brings out the richness and colour to any dish. glad u liked it:)

@kribha,thank u kribha:) i am really glad to know u liked the pic and presentation. i feel food should not only taste good but should look good also. my grandma always used to say that first people should taste the food through their eyes.

@mansi,do let me know when u make this mansi. i am sure ur friends will enjoy it as much as we did:)i will surely try to come up with new recipe with peaches if i get fresh peaches from market:)

This dish looks totally awesome. The sight of the fried koftas is making me hungry! The gravy has such a nice color. This is now placed first on my must-try dishes. In your blog for the first time today - I'm sure I will come back for more of your interesting recipes.

@sudha,thank u sudha for letting me know. i am thrilled to know u enjoyed it.i wanted some body in the gravy, so i chopped the onion very finely which ultimately when cooked almost dissolved in the gravy. u can always fry and grind the onion to smooth paste. if u r grinding the onions then i would recommend u to reduce the number of cashews used to 3/4 th coz u will get really thick gravy :)

Hi Sia,It was a lovely presentation. I want to try this recipe, this weekend. I would like to know can i make koftas ahead (that is a day or two) and make the gravy on that day. Before adding to the gravy may be i can heat it or bake it.Will the koftas be good?

Hello, this recipe looks gorgeous. I have a question, though - what is Kitchen King masala? I am not sure if I can find it in the Netherlands where I live; do you have a recommendation of what I could substitute it with (like some combination of the standard spices/masalas)? Thank you so much! You have a very nice blog. Cheers, Rachel

@wild orchid,kitchen king masala is a special masala powder which enhances the flavour of any curry. there r different brands of kitchen king masalas available. it contains powdered coriander, tumeric, fenugreek, ginger, salt, bay leaves, cumin, black pepper, cardamom, garlic flakes, poppy seeds, onion flakes, cloves, mustard and asafoetida. one brand which is use is badshah kitchen king masala first time i had to get it parceled from india but now u should be able to get it in any indian stores. other popular brands of kitchen king masala are Mangal Kitchen King MasalaSpicy World Kitchen King MasalaShakthiEverest kitchen king masala.it is not a must for any curry base as you can always use the more common Garam Masala.

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About Sia

Born in India and raised in fun and food loving family, I currently reside in UK with my better half and my two babies, five years old son and nine years old food blog. My cooking style has strong root in Indian culture and at the same time embraces the world cuisine with equal passion. With never ending love for food, spice and life, I am passionate about cooking and making Indian food less intimidating, healthy and easy to cook which reflects in my blog Monsoon Spice which has been ranked one among Top Indian food blogs. Read more…

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